IMANI COPPOLA - Quarantino Remixes

CZARFACE / 7L & Esoteric

A playlist of instrumental versions of recent song releases by The Blitz, produced by Matt Reyes of TYPE 4.

Blitztrumentals

The Producers Corner Sample Challenge

This is my forty-first entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source music from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was Shinichi Tanabe's whimsical and ethereal soundtrack for the 1977 film "Gokumon-tō". I edited and layered and combined about twenty different loops and snippets from the source, and added my own drum programming, bassline, and just a hint of piano. I didn't really spend a lot of time "chopping" the source, preferring to use what was there as layers and instruments to conduct into a brand-new confection. I figure there's no way this is going to win anything, so I decided to have fun and open it up to four minutes. I hope you enjoy the final product, and please everyone stay safe and healthy out there!!!

4 Feet High And Rhyming

The Quickening Art

The Quickening Art (TPC Sample Challenge #182)

This is my forty-second entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source music from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the 1977 jazz album "Morning Glory" by Takeshi Inomata & The Third. I added my own drum programming utilizing a bunch of edited drum loops from J-Zone, but all the rest of the music and bassline is comprised of about fourteen edited and layered and combined loops and snippets from the source. I hope you enjoy the final product, and please everyone stay safe and healthy out there!!!

* This came in 2nd place.

Beat Takeshi

Beat Takeshi (TPC Sample Challenge #183)

This is my forty-fourth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source music from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was a playlist of four songs: "New Religion" by Trifle, "Life, Dreams, Death" by Brothers Unlimited, "Revenge" by Kirth Morrison, and something entitled simply "和田アキ子 初秋". Honestly I didn't have a lot of time or energy to devote to this one, but since it's the 200th challenge, and considering the sad news last night, I decided to whip this up at the last minute. I hope you enjoy the final product, and please everyone stay safe and healthy out there!!!

* This came in 2nd place.

Biz-Centennial

Biz-Centennial (TPC Sample Challenge #200)

This is my forty-fifth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source music from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the song "Preludio in Do Minore" by Angelo Ariente & Alberto Baldan Bembo, a slice of spaghetti-western jazz funk prog rock instrumental. One particular phrase jumped out at me as the makings of a mellow chord progression, so I looped it from two different spots in the song, panned those left and right, added four or five other edited and filtered snippets, and tied it all together with my own drum programming, bassline, piano, organ, chorus sounds, and vocal samples. I hope you enjoy the final product, and please everyone stay safe and healthy out there!!!

Paracusia

Paracusia (TPC Sample Challenge #201)

This is my remix of Arrested Development's 2021 single "Vibe (feat. Big Daddy Kane"). I took their acappella track, edited it here and there, and set it to my own music. And yes, the vocal time shift is purposeful; it's just something that occurred to me while listening to the original; similar to what Jay Dee / Dilla did for his "Runnin'" remix. The eagle-eared among you will notice that I actually shifted it a few times.

I do not own the rights to this song, I'm just putting it out there because I had fun making it and hope you have fun listening to it!

Instrumental version: https://soundcloud.com/type4/vibe-the-quickening-art-instrumental

Original version here: https://music.apple.com/us/album/vibe-single/1590938038

https://www.arresteddevelopmentmusic.com

https://www.type4music.com

FOR THE FKN LOVE

Vibe

Arrested Development - Vibe (feat. Big Daddy Kane) THE QUICKENING ART REMIX by Matt Reyes of TYPE 4

Brand-new remix of CZARFACE's song "Bizarro", from their 2019 vinyl release "The Odd Czar Against Us".

Vocals by Esoteric & Inspectah Deck.
feat. 7L, Tom Segura & Christina P.
Production by Matt Reyes of TYPE 4.

Original version here: https://youtu.be/DmKY9mg6Fl8
https://czarface.com
https://www.type4music.com

Make sure to hit your local record shop on Saturday April 23rd 2022 for Record Store Day and pick up your copy of the brand-new CZARFACE vinyl LP "CZARMAGEDDON!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADkCXsP8C_Q

Bizarro

Bizarro (Molecular Mass remix by Matt Reyes of TYPE 4)

Original version here!

CZARFACE - "Bizarro" (Molecular Mass Remix By Matt Reyes Of TYPE 4)

It's been a while. This is my entry for Round One of The Producers Corner "Head2Head" sample challenge for 2022, where thirty-two producers are given the same source from which to sample, and they send their results in to be randomly matched up against another producer in an elimination round with possible cash prize rewards.

The source for the first week was a soundtrack snippet entitled "Les Marchancres" by François de Roubaix (https://youtu.be/GseX9akFpoA?t=702). Competitors were allowed to sample from this source, add their own bassline, drums, and "extra sounds", which encompasses just about everything including infinite other sample sources; but I decided to limit all music samples to the source material. I ended up using about thirteen heavily-edited loops and snippets, applying copious amounts of time-stretching and pitch-adjustment to get them all in line over my drum programming and bassline. Once I was done with the music, I added a few little a cappella vocal samples on top for seasoning.

I began working on it Wednesday afternoon and finished at 4AM on Thursday. I probably would've preferred coming up with something a bit harder-edged, but the sample source is a bunch of atonal piano and synth phrases, so there wasn't a lot of rhythm or variation to be worked with. I ended up with my usual musical songy trip-hoppy arrangement; here's hoping the judge happens to be a fan of RJD2 and Banco de Gaia!

Wish me luck in the first round. If I'm lucky enough to advance, I'll see you back here next week. Enjoy the music, and I hope that you're all staying safe and healthy!

* This did indeed prove to be good enough to advance to Round 2 (watch the video here: https://youtu.be/9_HYiNgRL4g), so stay tuned!

2022 Heads In A Duffel Bag

Heads Or Tales (Head2Head 2022 Round One)

This is my entry for Round Two of The Producers Corner "Head2Head" sample challenge for 2022, where sixteen producers are given the same source from which to sample, and they send their results in to be randomly matched up against another producer in an elimination round with possible cash prize rewards.

The source for this second week was the song "My World Is Empty Without You" by The Smith Connection (https://youtu.be/rjttzxG3hZw). Competitors were allowed to sample from this source, and add ONLY their own drums, NO additional outside bassline, loops, keyboards, vocal samples, etc. I ended up using about sixteen heavily-edited loops and snippets, applying copious amounts of filtering to isolate instrumental parts I wanted to use, then time-stretching and pitch-shifting to get everything working the way I wanted with my drum programming.

I began working on it Monday morning and finished around midnight, so all in all I got it done in about twelve hours. I like the flow, from somber downward-progressing bass notes to bright upbeat reggae keys after the break. It's very "me". Wish me luck in this second round round. If I'm lucky enough to advance, I'll see you back here next week. Enjoy the music, and I hope that you're all staying safe and healthy!

*Nope!

Less Is More

Version WITH drums

Less Is More (Head2Head 2022 Round Two)

THIS version of my beat is comprised wholly of samples taken from the source material. NO extra drums or bass or any other sounds have been added. Everything you hear here is from the sample source.

The judge of the competition gave me a fairly low score for "sample usage", which is an agreed-upon matter of opinion, a subjective determination made by listening to a finished stereo mixdown. Obviously no one else is going to completely comprehend the work put into a piece of production if they weren't there with you looking over your shoulder the whole time. No hard feelings, toward the judge or the worthy opponent who defeated me.

I just wanted to post this for my own personal edification, because for years - okay decades - I've suspected that my style of sample production, where I strive to achieve a final product which sounds smooth and songy, can obscure the breakdown and reconstruction going on. I feel that people tend to listen to my stuff and just nod appreciatively, accepting the flow and arrangement as something I must've just found that way. Which is rarely the case.

Anyway, in THIS particular case, I used about sixteen loops and snippets from the source, edited and re-arranged in many different ways to play well together in the final mix. The bassline is one separate isolated track. I then have a harmony bassline track which comes in over it. The rimshot drum track is its own isolated track. The piano, the flutes, the vocal snippets, all on their own isolated tracks. The "cymbals" are actually an open hihat from the rimshot track that I isolated, extended and EQed. The ending section with an upbeat reggae arrangement of bassline and piano is a completely new construction by me.

So that's what I did. Obviously whether or not anyone likes the final product is up to them, a matter of opinion and taste and preference. I just wanted to clarify what my actual "sample usage" was. (Here is the actual submitted version including my drum programming: https://soundcloud.com/type4/less-is-more-head2head-2022-round-two) Thanks for your time!

Less Is More (NO DRUMS)

Less Is More (Head2Head 2022 Round Two) NO DRUMS

Instrumental version of "Hard Rock" by The Blitz.

Vocal version here: https://youtu.be/rRjDzukhHQ8

Hard Rock

Buy on iTunes!

The Blitz - Hard Rock (instrumental)

Instrumental version of "No Escape" by The Blitz.

Vocal version here: https://youtu.be/B8MmwQS8LH0

No Escape

The Blitz - No Escape (instrumental)

Instrumental version of "Who I Am" by The Blitz.

Vocal version here: https://youtu.be/Qyc-fIwq_u0

Who I Am

The Blitz - Who I Am (instrumental)

Instrumental version for "Mine Benda" by The Blitz.

Vocal version here: https://youtu.be/6w68NYYygzs

Mine Benda

The Blitz - Mine Benda (instrumental)

I tossed this together back in 2019 as an audio demonstration of a production style I hear in a lot of hip-hop music these days and it drives me nuts. It's just people grabbing some old soul or R&B song, feeding it into Serato Sample, chopping it into an atonal mess, looping five seconds of it for three minutes, and calling it a day. I completed this in just a few minutes, and actually it has too much complexity to really fit the criteria of what I'm talking about; this has an A and B part to the loop, and the drums should really be simple separated unquantized booms and baps, not a smooth breakbeat. But I guess I couldn't help myself.

So yeah, this is just a small snippet of Curtis Mayfield's "Kung Fu", chopped and screwed and looped ad infinitum, set to some Glenn Yarborough drums. That's it. Took me a few minutes. And okay maybe it doesn't intrinsically suck, maybe this could be built upon with complementary samples, melodies, harmonies, choruses, bridges, you know an actual song arrangement. And hell, you toss a great rapper on top of even the most simple beat and you've got a great rap song. I understand that the music is the secondary part of "rap music". It just really bugs me when I hear producers stick with their first idea and only their first idea and stop there, adding nothing more.

What this stuff reminds me of is what I was doing in the late 80s & early 90s, when I'd have a rap group come into my studio and we'd sit all day going through sampleables, vinyl, tapes, whatever, and loop up anything that sounded cool. I'd sample it, set it to the first breakbeat that came to mind, record five minutes of that onto a cassette for them to write to, and move on to the next idea. They'd take that "loop tape" away for a week or whatever, and come back with songs they'd written to those beats, whereupon I would actually begin production on it as a song, arranging my samples and drums around what they'd written, using the original idea as a base and building from there. If I ever just left the loop exactly the same for the length of the song, I'd want to punch myself in the face. Maybe I "overproduce" some of my stuff. I really can't tell. All I know is I work on it until it's a piece of music, until it does everything I would've been conducting a band playing those instruments to do. Maybe that's putting too much emphasis on the "music" part of "rap music". But it's obviously too late for me to change now.

Anyway yeah, that's why I tossed this piece of crap together in a few minutes; to demonstrate just how easy and boring the whole thing can be, once the easy shortcuts become the new norm. I still always strive to be and create more, and I hope you will too.

For a visual demonstration of this same point, watch: https://youtu.be/67Ckve3L8EA

MORE OLD SAD BASTARD

shit

If you're a sampling producer, this kind of thing happens inevitably, just hopefully not very often. Sometime back around 2010 I put together this basic musical outline for a song, for TYPE 4 vocalist Tommy O'Deed to write to. I even came up with a sing-song chorus about "nothing". The song never materialized, but thanks to one of my favorite rap groups Atmosphere, we can now all hear something like what that might have sounded like, in their song "Dotted Lines" (https://soundcloud.com/atmosphere-6/dotted-lines). Y'know, if we'd ever finished writing the song, or recorded the song, or for that matter if we were as good as Atmosphere, which is of course a matter of opinion. I have no idea whether they actually sampled the same source as I did, or merely replayed some live guitar in the same style, but I think even Ed Sheeran would recognize there's an undeniable similarity. As for what that possibly shared sample source is? Go fish.

Nothing New

Instrumental version of "Don't Panic!"; completed in 1997 and released on our 2001 album "For Sale":

https://music.apple.com/us/album/dont-panic/344224485?i=344225053

I put this music together in 1996, around the same time I looped everything together for "Formula 4". When 7L & Esoteric (as part of God Complex) came to my home studio in 1996 to record "Cortex Nematode", I showed them this beat but we went with something new from scratch, also using a half-time jazz sample idea.

For Sale

Don't Panic! (instrumental)

Vocal Version Here!

Instrumental for "Blame It On Tom" from 2004.

Vocal version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueGkTpdgunc

As Is

Blame It On Tom (instrumental)

Buy vocal version!

In 1996 7L & Esoteric (known at the time, with third partner Karma, as God Complex) came out to record one of their first songs at my home studio in Medford.  The first session consisted of finding and fooling around with loops and beats, and much freestyle fooling around on the mic with a friend who happened to be with them, Nabo The Jedi.  A week later the guys came back, sans Nabo, and dropped their final vocals and cuts, I ran a quick mix onto DAT for them, and that was it.  I wouldn't even say I "produced" it, merely recorded and engineered and mixed it, chiming in with some creative suggestions here and there.  But they wanted to keep it simple and direct, so that mix was what ended up on their first vinyl release (https://youtu.be/TKRO-uCmy_M). God Complex would soon refine itself without Karma into simply 7L & Esoteric, Nabo would go on to be Nabo Rawk of the Porn Theatre Ushers, and I threw myself single-mindedly into producing for TYPE 4 for the next 20 years.  But I always had this track in the back of my head, with a desire to go back in and remix it with a slightly more intricate (more "me") style of production and arrangement.  It wasn't until 2018 that I finally got around to it.  Luckily I still had the original ADAT masters, along with other source material like the VHS tape upon which was their oft-used "Strontium 90" voice sample, and also a cassette tape onto which I had run recordings of those first fun freestyle sessions.  It is from those tapes that I grabbed the Nabo freestyle verse with which I close out this remix; one of several little production in-jokes I threw in to keep the project fun for myself.  I hope you will also enjoy this 2018 spin on a formative slice of 90s Bostonian hip-hop history. Thanks for listening! - Matt Reyes

The Strontium 90 Years

Cortex Nematode (2:56 AM remix)

God Complex, "Cortex Nematode (2:56 AM remix)"

This is my first try at a "sample challenge", where a bunch of different producers are given the same sample source and a limited time to come up with a piece of music based around samples from that song.  In this case, it was the Facebook group The Producers Corner, and the source song was "Quest Under Capricorn" by The Shaolin Afronauts (2012).  I sampled no fewer than nine different snippets from the original song, added my own drum loops and percussion programming, and worked in a few loops from other similar-sounding jazz fusion records.  My finishing touch was some subtle voice clips I scratched onto the track from an old 45 I have containing the original Apollo 11 radio broadcasts.  I was inspired not only by the source material "Afronauts", but also the impending 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing.  I received the challenge at 9AM on Monday, and finished my mixdown at 3PM on Tuesday, making for 30 hours of work, not counting the odd minute here or there for sleep.  I hope you enjoy the final product!

Link to behind-the-scenes making-of video:  https://youtu.be/1Mm4VL0_gho

* This, my first entry into the TPC Sample Challenge, was lucky enough to win 1st place!

Kickin' Up Some Dust

Watch making-of video!

Kickin' Up Some Dust (TPC Sample Challenge #94)

This is my second entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining.  People seemed to like my last one, so I thought I'd throw another one into the ring this week.  Having just won, I'll be listening to everyone else's and giving the admin my top five favorites; so knowing I can't be the winner this week, I was freed up to just have fun with it.  I was previously unaware of the two minute time limit on beats being played on the live YouTube show, so even though my 4:30 entry won last week, I have kept this one to exactly 2:00 so that everyone can hear the whole thing on the live show.  The challenge this week was "Love Serenade" by Barry White, from which I simply lifted a huge long chunk of sample and fed it through a few different noise gates to get a percussive synth-y sound, and then popped in a couple string accents from elsewhere in the song.  Other than that, it's just my beats and edits, and a vocal sample from the acappella of "Love Hangover".  Since the entire thing is only two minutes long, it didn't take me very long; from about 9 AM to 5 PM today.  But it was fun, and I hope you enjoy what I came up with!

Que Sera Seranade

Que Sera Seranade (TPC Sample Challenge #95)

This is my third entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. After winning my first week and judging the second, I was a little burnt out and in need of a vacation anyway, so I didn't make a beat for Challenge # 96. But after a long weekend escaping the heat in a secret desert island location, I decided to jump right back in with this week's challenge.  The source material is "Dagarnas Skum" by Ragnarök, a cool Nordic jazz fusion instrumental.  I took a few loops from it, added sampled beats and drum programming, replayed the bassline, added piano and chorus and scratching, and got it done in about ten hours today. The vocal sample at the beginning is from a poem about Ragnarok, spoken in some dead Asgardian tongue. The "interruptus" part in the middle is a recording from the first Sample Challenge live video I watched, in which there were certain audio problems getting started. Well, one man's technical difficulties are another man's production ideas, I guess... I hope you enjoy this, it was a lot of fun to make!

* This came in 2nd place.

Dagarnas Interruptus

Dagarnas Interruptus (TPC Sample Challenge #97)

This is my fourth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was "Skylab", a 14-minute electro-prog-rock instrumental by Dan Lacksman a.k.a. Electronic System. The song was released the same year as Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", and really could pass for an unreleased B-side for "Breathe" or something. So being a fervent Floydian myself, I dove right in, embracing and expanding upon the similarity. I grabbed five different sections of the original song, including the intro and an isolated bassline, added my own sampled beats, drum machine, piano, and scratching. And then as the final shine on the diamond, I took a bit of Clare Torry's astounding vocal solo from "The Great Gig In The Sky" and edited it to fit with the music loops. I generally enjoy beginning and ending instrumentals (hell, EVERYTHING I produce) with vocal samples, snippets from movies or TV, but even though I tossed some stuff in from "The Wizard Of Oz" and from a making-of DVD for "Dark Side Of The Moon", it felt cluttered so I just left them off in the final mix. Overall this ended up a lot "smoother" than I anticipated or intended, but that's how it is sometimes; you go in wanting to make a head-knocking banger and end up with a mellow slice of sampledelica. Grab your headphones, plug in, and drop out!

Pink Fraud

Pink Fraud (TPC Sample Challenge #98)

This is my fifth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was twofold: "The Nostalgia of Empty Bottles" by Strings Orchestra, and "Gruner Wind / Vent Vert" by Francis Coppieters. It's also a special challenge because it's the 100th contest, and will be accompanied by a get-together of producers and artists at the home of the organizer. Anticipating the celebratory week, I knew I wanted to do something which ran through the history of my favorite and most influential hip-hop producers of the past, giving a measure or so to display sampling in their style before moving on to the next one. This plan was complicated by the inclusion of TWO source songs, but that turned out to be a gift as I wanted to change the sample with each segment. But more problematic was the new time limit - 1:30 instead of the normal 2:00 - designed to keep the live YouTube show down to a manageable length. In order to fit the maximum producers into the space allotted, I eliminated the segments dedicated to Man Parrish, The Dust Brothers, The 45 King, and Large Professor, and bumped the speed up to 100 BPM. I was still left with things progressing from Arthur Baker to Dr Dre and cutting off there at 1:30, but I figured screw it, I'm just going to make the thing two full minutes even if it gets cut off on the live show. This turned out to be a lot of work, and I put it down and walked away a few times before finally finishing almost a week after starting - a frustratingly snail-like pace for me! I stopped at RZA, figuring that covered 1982-1993, the "second" decade of hip-hop (the first being Kool Herc in 1973 through Grandmaster Flash in 1981). Note: I did NOT actually sample any work by these producers, merely created beats from scratch in their distinctive styles; early Linn drum, 808 and 909 drum sounds, Marley's obsession with "Impeach The President", a Wattstax vocal grab over funky drummers for The Bomb Squad, a crackly children's record for Prince Paul, Pete Rock's signature voice interjections, Dre's G-Funk, and RZA's dark simple catchy kung fu grip. I abandoned plans to continue up through the present, from J Dilla through Timbaland, Puff Daddy, Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, Kanye West, Madlib, and concluding with DJ Khaled, which would have just been him shouting his name followed by a few seconds of crickets and then the sound of a cash register. It would have been a funny moment, but it would have made the beat twice as long, and I'd still be working on the thing now. I'm glad to get this thing out of my head and into stereo; it drove me nuts for a week, now it's your turn!

Namedrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Namedrops Keep Fallin' On My Head (TPC Sample Challenge #100)

This is my twentieth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the album "Goëtia - Dark Magic Music", by Peter Gundry; a gothic treasure trove of chorus, piano, and strings. It took me a while to settle on a catchy hook, but once I re-timed a swingy section of low woodwinds, I had my foundation and was able to sprinkle on about eight other loops and snippets. I then added my standard layers of breakbeats, drum programming, keyboards, and scratching, trying to keep things a bit simpler and head-bobbing this week. I hope you enjoy the result, and please everyone be careful and stay healthy!!!

PS - Upon completing this piece, I tossed an Imani Coppola acapella (acoppola?) on top, time-stretched to fit, and it turned out to be precisely in key and aligned to the same arrangement. I extended the music, added and changed a few things, and this is the result:

https://soundcloud.com/type4/imani-coppola-dont-touch-that-microphone-caterpillar-snacks-remix-by-matt-reyes-of-type-4

Instrumental version (essentially an extended version of this beat) here: https://soundcloud.com/type4/dont-touch-that-microphone-instrumental

Let me know what you think!

Caterpillar Snacks

Caterpillar Snacks (TPC Sample Challenge #135)

Last night I finished up on my most recent instrumental for The Producers Corner weekly "sample challenge". And fueled by an overabundance of inspiration (and lack of sleep), I tossed one of Imani Coppola's recently-released acappellas on top to see how it would sound. To my very pleasant shock, it turned out to fit precisely in key and arrangement to my music, once I time-stretched her vocals to put them on beat. I added and re-arranged a few things to better complement the song's format, and threw together this very listenable (but probably not final) mix. What do you think?

Instrumental version here: https://soundcloud.com/type4/dont-touch-that-microphone-instrumental

Quarantino

Don't Touch That Microphone (Caterpillar Snacks Remix by Matt Reyes of TYPE 4)

Imani Coppola - Don't Touch That Microphone (Caterpillar Snacks Remix by Matt Reyes Of TYPE 4)

Instrumental version of my remix for Imani Coppola's song "Don't Touch That Microphone".

Vocal version here: https://soundcloud.com/type4/imani-coppola-dont-touch-that-microphone-caterpillar-snacks-remix-by-matt-reyes-of-type-4

Don't Touch That Microphone (instrumental)

Well I did it again. Having finished my sample challenge for The Producers Corner and really liking the result, I decided to grab one of the acappellas that Imani Coppola recently made downloadable for people to remix, and tried it out over my music. As with "Don't Touch That Microphone", it just happened to fall in precisely on key and in synch with my arrangement. All I had to do was extend my music and go back in with some edits around her vocals. The result is a kind of groovy electro dub reggae R&B thing, and I'm sure it's all I'm going to be listening to for the next (checks watch) length of quarantine. Share and enjoy!

Instrumental version here: https://soundcloud.com/type4/a-beautiful-thing-microcosmic-instrumental

A Beautiful Thing (Microcosmic Remix)

Instrumental Version

Imani Coppola - A Beautiful Thing (Microcosmic Remix)

Pigeon Penelope returns in this brand-new remix where I combined one of Imani Coppola's acappella tracks with music I'd originally created for the Producers Corner sample challenge. This time I had to do a slight bit of adjustment to make everything fit, but then had fun editing and adding new stuff around her vocals. I even tossed in a little bonus singing at the end. Share and enjoy!

Instrumental version here: https://soundcloud.com/type4/birds-eye-view-in-flew-enza-instrumental

Birds Eye View (In Flew Enza remix)

Imani Coppola - Birds Eye View (In Flew Enza Remix)

Well I guess this is it for now with the Imani Coppola remixes... I'm out of acappellas! For this one, I grabbed some partial song pieces she had made available for download, and combined them over a half-time / double-time reggae beat. There still just wasn't enough song there, so I had the idea to grab an old rap acappella from an artist I produced in the past. The first thing to come to mind was the song "Soul Kiss" by Poetic Soldiers, which I'd produced and recorded with rapper Russ D back in 1991. So I dug up the old 4-track cassette master, isolated his vocals, and ported it into the new music, stretching and shifting where necessary. It's not perfect sounding, not only because it's a track off a thirty-year-old cassette, but also because in order to preserve track space back then I often recorded to track with effects, so there's just too much burned-in reverb on his voice. I de-reverbed it a little, added some compression, some de-essing, and it still sounds a bit muddy AND tinny at the same time, if that's possible. But I think the idea is cool, and I've always loved his lyrics on this one. So there you go, a mashup of a couple of unreleased Imani songs, and a now-ancient rap song I recorded with a good friend and talented artist when we were both in our late teens, over some brand-new reggae disco funk! Y'know, all in a day's work around here...

Instrumental version here: https://soundcloud.com/type4/luv-is-a-three-letter-word-soul-kiss-instrumental

LUV Is A Three Letter Word

Instrumental version!

Imani Coppola - LUV Is A Three Letter Word (Soul Kiss Remix) feat. Poetic Soldiers

This is my twenty-fourth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source song from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was a YouTube track called "Orchestral Groove (French Connection)", a mix of cool French instrumental songs compiled by The Soulparanos Show. It runs the gamut from smoky lounge to film soundtrack to disco pop, and at first nothing was jumping out at me. I think my problem was the way the whole thing was mixed together as if it's one long song, making it more difficult to pick out beginnings or endings where there might be some cool samples. It didn't help matters that Soulparanos peppered the mix with their own voiceover namedrops, so finally I just ended up Shazaming some of the tracks I was curious about, and downloaded those individual songs to work with. I kept things fairly simple this time, building around one loop with a nice descending bassline, layering in a few other heavily-edited samples from the source material and elsewhere, and then finishing it with lots of my own drum programming. I chose not to add keyboards or scratching this week, as I thought it might just muddy the whole thing up. I hope you enjoy the result, and please everyone be careful and stay healthy!!!

PS - after completing this instrumental, I used an altered version of the music on a remix for Imani Coppola's song, "One Of These Days": https://soundcloud.com/type4/imani-coppola-one-of-these-days-eufouria-remix

* This came in 2nd place.

The French Confection

The French Confection (TPC Sample Challenge #139)

Okay well it turns out that I had one more Imani Coppola remix up my sleeve, thanks to fellow TYPE 4 brain DayLate, who filtered out an acappella for "One Of These Days" and shared it with me. It doesn't sound perfect, as the process of separating out an acappella does all sorts of awful things to the sound quality of the voice, but hopefully you'll get what I was going for and enjoy it nonetheless. As with most of these remixes, I got the idea to just try out the vocals over my most recent instrumental created for The Producers Corner sample challenge, and once I retuned the music to her voice, it fit pretty well. Her harmony chorus did not work at all, so I substituted another vocal stem she'd left on her Soundcloud, combined with all the other stuff I'd already put into my instrumental. The end result is short and sweet and listenable even in its rough scratchy form. I hope you enjoy!

Instrumental version here: https://soundcloud.com/type4/one-of-these-days-eufouria-instrumental

Original sample challenge beat here: https://soundcloud.com/type4/the-french-confection-tpc-sample-challenge-139

One Of These Days (Eufouria Remix)

Instrumental Version!

Imani Coppola - One Of These Days (Eufouria Remix)

This is my thirty-second entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source music from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. (Just kidding, it's a lot longer than thirty seconds.) The source this week was the 2019 album "It Rains Love" by Lee Fields & The Expressions, a collection of funky soul songs evocative of James Brown and Otis Redding. I purposefully tried to stay away from my normal approach of finding and looping long chunks of music, and instead went for more of a mosaic of small pieces (or "chops"). This was not only to give it the jumpy percussive tone I wanted, but also because these kinds of recent neo-soul records are essentially bands playing loops as if they were breakbeats and samples anyway, and I was trying to stay away from just sounding redundant. I used twelve different snippets from the source, edited and rearranged and layered together, then I added my own drum programming, bassline, and some vocal samples. I hope you enjoy the final product, and please everyone stay safe and healthy out there!!!

* This came in 5th place

Choplifter

Choplifter (TPC Sample Challenge #147)

This is my thirty-sixth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source music from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was the classic 1959 album "Kind Of Blue" by Miles Davis. I used about ten different loops and snippets from the source, and added my own drum programming, some subtle piano, organ, chorus, and vocal samples, to produce a slow smooth swingy jazz/reggae hybrid. I hope you enjoy the final product, and please everyone stay safe and healthy out there!!!

Kind Of Brew

Kind Of Brew (TPC Sample Challenge #151)

This is my entry for Round One of The Producers Corner "Head2Head" sample challenge, where forty producers are given the same source from which to sample, and send their results in to be randomly matched up against another producer in an elimination round with possible cash prize rewards. The source for this first week was a YouTube medley of Ennio Morricone's soundtrack work for Sergio Leone's films, entitled "The Spaghetti Western Trio" (https://youtu.be/mfRFET2UZok). The rules were to use ONLY samples from this source, NO additional musical samples or instrumentation, apart from drums and bassline. No piano, no synth, no organ, no chorus, no movie dialogue, no scratching; none of the extra seasoning I usually use to finish off the stew. But hey, that's why they call it a challenge! When I first saw that the source would be Morricone I wasn't that inspired, as that music has been sampled to death by artists over the years, including me starting back in 1988. But I decided to wade in anyway and see what I could come up with. Twenty-five hours later, and twenty-five samples later, I was done. I didn't even add any additional bassline; everything you hear is a sample from the YouTube source, with my own drum programming supporting and complementing the loops. With twenty-five samples used, there are often four or five different snippets interacting with each other at any given time, but I hope I arranged and mixed it well enough where everything meshes well while still remaining audible. I was most pleasantly surprised by how well the chopped and re-assembled whistles came out at the end; I wouldn't be surprised if no one even notices that's not what the whistles do at all in the original song. I'm not sure what the next challenge will be, but if this is good enough to move on to round two, I might (?) spend more than a day on my next beat. I hope you enjoy what you hear, and that you're all staying safe and healthy!

* This was, in fact, good enough to advance to the next round.

Apollo Brown, in expressing his opinion about my beat, wondered if perhaps I could have taken an approach of "less is more", especially since he liked my opening sample that no one else really utilized. To be fair, the sample he liked doesn't really exist on the source album in the state he heard it; I took a loop, re-timed it from a swing time signature, separated out the guitar plucks at the snares, doubled the bass notes and shifted one down an octave, and combined it with low piano notes and some slowed-down strings from elsewhere on the album. But absolutely I take his point; less IS often more, especially when it comes to hip-hop.

But I have this incessant irrepressible instinct to fill up empty space in my production, especially when it is an instrumental. If it's designed to be a beat that will end up with vocals all over it, then there is far less need for me to keep the listener entertained. But if I know it's going to hit a listener with nothing but music, my natural reaction is to build that instrumental up into a little mini-symphony to hopefully hold the interest and imbue enjoyment in listeners for whom often a song simply is not an actual song unless there's a human voice saying something on top of it.

But still, I should take into account my target audience, and remember that these will be fellow producers listening and judging, and tailor my beats accordingly. I guess overall I misinterpreted the judging criteria "does it work for a song" (meaning is it good for a rapper to write and record on) as "does it work AS a song" (meaning it's a completed presentable instrumental). Thanks to Apollo Brown and all my fellow producers for competing and participating, and props to Blox Beats who seriously came close to kicking my ass. I'll see all of you next time... most likely with another slice of "more is less". 😀

The Good, The Bad, And The Funky

A Fistful Of Dolomite

A Fistful Of Dolomite (Head2Head Round One)

This is my thirty-eighth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source music from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was Ennio Morricone's 1971 soundtrack for the Sergio Leone spaghetti western "Giù La Testa" (a.k.a. "Duck, You Sucker!" or "A Fistful Of Dynamite"). As the Head2Head sample challenge is still running, I didn't turn my mind to this until I was sure I was satisfied with the H2H entry; and then looking through this I decided to keep things simple and build off of one main filtered loop. ...I then absolutely did NOT keep it simple; using about ten different samples and snippets from the source, layering in a couple of additional loops and vocal samples, then adding my own drum programming and vinyl filters to produce a smooth swingy bit of melancholy morriconia. I hope you enjoy the final product, and please everyone stay safe and healthy out there!!!

* This won first place!!! Wow, thanks to António Megård Piteira and the rest of the TPC family!

The Good, The Bad, and The Funky

The Good, The Bad, and The Funky (TPC Sample Challenge #153)

This is my thirty-ninth entry in The Producers Corner "sample challenge", where everyone is given the same source music from which to sample, and the results are diverse and entertaining. The source this week was Roy Budd's spooky jazz/funk score for the 1974 film "The Internecine Project". I was lucky enough to win the sample challenge from last week, which means I have to judge this week, AND might still have the Head2Head competition to worry about, so I wanted to get this out of the way quickly in order to focus on everything else. I edited and layered and combined about sixteen different loops and snippets from the source, augmented the bassline, added my own drum programming, a hint of piano and chorus, and some Stephen Hawking voice clips to finish the package. I hope you enjoy the final product, and please everyone stay safe and healthy out there!!!

Imaginary Time

Imaginary Time (TPC Sample Challenge #154)

Just something I built in my head overnight and tossed together this morning. It's been a while since I've worked on any music, here's hoping 2021 provides inspiration for us all!

Ol' Man Remix

Ol' Man Reverie

Brand-new remix for our 1998 song, released on our 2001 album "For Sale".

Trailremixed

Formula 4 (Colliderscope remix)

Formula 4 (Colliders Cope Remix)

After decades of recording and touring, and many turbulent ups and downs, Bostonians TYPE 4 are still going strong.  They've never let go of that golden age of hip-hop, still digging through vinyl for musical samples, and digging through life for lyrical stories.  Tommy O'Deed, Matt Reyes & Bill Ierardi make hip-hop for grownups, the old fashioned way: for the love of it.

TYPE 4

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